As quick as some home insurance companies can be in responding to claims, they’re often looking for better ways to serve their customers.

Some insurers may have found a quicker claim inspection process with drones.

The mini-helicopters can fly above a home that has recently had its roof torn apart by high winds or a tornado, for example, and take photos and videos that can be sent to a claims adjustor’s phone or tablet and make the claims process faster and more efficient.

A drone can be safer than having an inspector climb a ladder to a roof, such as a multiple-story building or a steep roof that can take more time and require specialized equipment. Photos can be taken in a new minutes with a drone. Claims that used to take almost two weeks to process can be completed in less than a day with the help of drones, according to a story by TechDigg.

Drones can help after a widespread tragedy, such as the two hurricanes that hit Texas and Florida this summer over two weeks, when there is often a shortage of claims adjustors because there are so many damaged homes to inspect.

Insurance companies that use drones to inspect damage homes include Allstate, Farmers, Erie Insurance, Liberty Mutual, Travelers and USAA.

An Allstate executive told NerdWallet that using drones to access spring storm damage claims in 2017 dropped a typical claim from 11 days to four and a half days. The speed of getting a drone in the air was important because roofing contractors are booked quickly after a storm hits, and a faster claims process can lead to a quicker repair.

If an Allstate customer wants a traditional inspection or if the drone pictures aren’t good enough, an adjuster will get on a roof.

A typical roof inspection with a ladder can take an hour, and even longer on multiple-story or steep roofs. A drone can capture the necessary images in 10 to 20 minutes.

Farmers Insurance has said that it’s using drones not only to provide faster inspections, but to help reduce safety risks to field adjusters.

Farmers is using its own claims professionals instead of third-party drone pilots to use the drones. Its claim representatives will be FAA-licensed drone operators who can fly a drone and file insurance claims for customers. Farmers is concentrating its early drone deployment on areas impacted by hailstorms and other severe weather.

Drones can’t fly near airports and military bases, and insurers are required by law to get customers’ permission to fly drones over their properties. Drone operators must keep their drones within sight, according to Federal Aviation Administration regulations.

A home inspection is just the first step in filing an insurance claim, which can often be a long process that requires a lot of paperwork. Some insurance companies can make that timeline shorter and almost seamless for customers

Some weather damage to a home, such as from hail, can be subtle enough that a drone may not capture it in a photo or video, and a physical inspection may be better. Serious damage could be difficult to see unless viewed up close by an inspector.

A human inspection will also be needed inside a home, where a drone can’t fly to inspect damage from a flood. Drones also can’t fly in heavy wind or rain.

In the future, drones could also be used to deliver supplies to flood victims, delivering food and medicine to people stranded in their homes. For people at an evacuation center, drones could show them images of their homes so they know what they’d be going back to.

The next time you need to call your insurance company to report damage to your home’s roof, don’t be surprised if the claims representative shows up with a drone. It could lead to faster repairs on your home.